Best Electric Blankets

Keep warm on a chilly night with a cozy electric blanket. The Good Housekeeping Research Institute put a variety of blankets through their paces to see which were the warmest, easiest to use, and most energy efficient. Read how the blankets were tested and evaluated, and see our top picks. These blankets should be used alone with no additional covers on top  if you prefer to use a comforter, check out our reviews of heated mattress pads (which are designed to be covered).

Sunbeam Luxury MicroPlush Heated Blanket ($119 to $179)

The polyester microfiber Sunbeam Luxury MicroPlush Heated Blanket delighted consumer testers with its softness. Plus, it's designed to detect and adjust the temperature of hot and cold spots to allow a comfortable night's rest  and did a very nice job of it. What frustrated consumer testers about Sunbeam's products was the instruction manual, which contains instructions for a number of products, making it confusing to find info on any one in particular. This blanket uses 8 cents per night of electricity  on the low end for our test. In twin, full, queen, and king sizes, and four colors: mushroom, ivy, lagoon, and garnet. (sunbeambedding.com)

Perfect Fit Plush Warming Blanket ($90 to $190)

Rated highest in overall appearance, the Perfect Fit Plush Warming Blanket has super-soft, fleecy polyester fabric. This blanket maintained its temperature well over time and held up nicely through our wash tests. It did, however, take a long time (45 minutes!) to heat to 70 degrees. It uses 7 cents per night in electricity, one of the most efficient of the test. In twin, full, queen, and king sizes and six colors: natural, sage, beige, garnet red, slate blue, and chocolate. (abbedding.com)

Sunbeam SlumberRest RoyalMink Blanket ($69 to $159)

The soft cotton/polyester/acrylic-blend heated Sunbeam SlumberRest RoyalMink Blanket with satin binding promises no cold spots with its "Blanket with a Brain" technology that monitors temperature (we found it to work well). This blanket also has 10 different heat settings. One drawback: Sunbeam includes multiple products in its instruction manual, which made it confusing for consumer testers to figure out how to operate this blanket. The blanket uses 11 cents per night of electricity  one of the larger energy users in the test. In twin, full, queen, and king sizes, and three colors: breeze, honey, and winter white. (sunbeambedding.com)

Sealy Diamond Heated Blanket ($100 to $200)

The Sealy Diamond Heated Blanket has ultra-thin wires that can't be felt through the fabric and provide even heating. Though it performed well, consumer testers didn't like the scratchy fabric of this blanket, saying it reminded them too much of their grandma's electric blanket. While it didn't shrink, the fabric did exhibit some pilling after wash. The blanket uses 11 cents per night of electricity  on the higher end for our test. In twin, full, queen, and king sizes, and six colors: butter, deep red, denim blue, ivory, ivy, and natural. (jcp.com)

Soft Heat Health Solutions Heated Blanket ($79 to $199)

Even with 10 heat settings, the Soft Heat Health Solutions Blanket didn't get as warm as some of the others, and didn't reach the 70-degree mark after an hour of use (but it was the fastest to cool down). On the plus side, the testers liked that they couldn't feel the wires through the fabric. The blanket uses 7 cents of electricity per night  one of the most efficient of the test. In twin, full, queen, and king sizes, and six colors: natural, sage, beige, garnet red, slate blue, and chocolate. (abbedding.com)

Soft Heat Microfleece Warming Blanket ($90 to $190)

The Soft Heat Microfleece Warming Blanket is made of soft polyester microfleece fabric and thin, barely there wires. Its easy-to-use digital controls pleased consumer testers. But there's an important downside: It took forever (longer than an hour!) to warm up. The blanket uses 7 cents of electricity per night  one of the most efficient of our test. In twin, full, queen, and king sizes, and six colors: beige, chocolate, garnet red, natural, sage, and slate. (pillowspadsandmore.com)

Sealy Classic Heated Blanket ($80 to $190)

The acrylic/polyester blend Sealy Classic Heated Blanket did not hold up as well as the rest in wash tests, suffering from the most shrinkage and pilling of all. Worst of all, it was also the biggest energy user of the bunch  13 cents per night (nearly twice the most efficient blankets on the test). In twin, full, queen, and king sizes, and six colors: cream, eggplant, Wedgwood, linen, rose, and sage. (jcp.com)

Cons:  Maximum average temperature was below 73 degrees  Used the most energy out of all the blankets  13 cents per night operating cost  Some pilling occurred after washing  Scratchy fabric  Some shrinkage after washing

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